'Evil' mistress gets maximum jail sentence

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A 'dangerous' mistress was jailed for seven years yesterday for what a judge described as a 'genuinely evil' plot to extort HK$139 million from her wealthy ex-lover over a period of two years.

Imposing the maximum term allowed in the District Court, Judge Kevin Browne described Ki Chun-yim, 38, a former pub manager, as an 'evil, ruthless, manipulative, calculative and dangerous person' whose acts amounted to 'attempted murder of the soul' of her victim.

The court heard that Ki had used persistent death threats to demand huge sums of money from a businessman - identified only as Mr X - even though she had already been given HK$10 million.

The judge also called Ki a 'slick and accomplished liar' for pretending that she was pregnant by Mr X, only to extort more money, and for the elaborate accounts she gave to police to distance herself from her crime.

Browne made the comments after he convicted Ki on nine counts of blackmail and one of perverting the course of justice as he ruled that Mr X and his business partner, Mr Y, had been credible and honest witnesses.

'Blackmail is one of the ugliest and most vicious crimes,' Browne said.

Mr X, he said, had suffered 'physically, emotionally and mentally' from the death threats.

The judge said he had intended to pass consecutive jail sentences, which could have resulted in a total jail term of up to 16 years, but as he was restricted by his jurisdiction, he passed the maximum term available in the District Court.

The court heard that after Mr X ended his brief relationship with Ki in 2007, she threatened to kill his wife, daughter and business partners and their family members.

She hired a private eye to keep watch on him, chased him down eight flights of stairs while wielding a chopper and forced him to have sex with her at knifepoint.

She drove Mr X and his wife to the verge of insanity and to the point that they required psychiatric treatment.

Hearing her jail term, Ki wailed in the dock and required assistance to walk to the cell.

In mitigation, Lawrence Lok SC, for Ki, said his client committed the crime because she had had a 'stormy relationship' with Mr X and that she was 'very keen on resumption of the relationship with [Mr X]' out of her 'misguided sense of relationship'.

Lok also said Ki was concerned about 'very extensive media coverage' attracted by the case, which resulted in her photograph appearing on the front page of a number of Chinese newspapers, and about the effect of this on her 16-year-old daughter, who is studying in the UK.

The judge rejected the submissions.

The court heard that Ki was earlier placed on a good-behaviour bond for an alleged assault on Mr X. She also had two criminal convictions for immigration offences.

Mr X had sought help from police seven times, but Ki was not arrested for blackmail until December.

Ki was married on the mainland in 1996. Her husband died after she moved to Hong Kong in 2000.